


Droit Divin

by LittleLinor



Category: Cardfight!! Vanguard
Genre: Devotion, Gen, Knight kink, M/M, Public display of ownership
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-06
Updated: 2015-02-06
Packaged: 2018-03-10 18:15:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3299261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleLinor/pseuds/LittleLinor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The rings don't dissolve when the Sanctuary does.<br/>Olivier Gaillard, and relearning a world where he is no longer Knight to his King.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Droit Divin

The rings don’t dissolve when the Sanctuary does, and Olivier Gaillard cries.

He’s seen Serra’s fall, seen his gem shatter under the weight of his betrayal and Gaillard’s own Judgement, and the sight has been imprinted in his memory ever since.

He wakes up in the small apartment he keeps in Paris, feverishly checks his hands, and cries, lips pressed to the metal and blue gems.

It takes a few days to hear back from Aichi. After waking up scattered back to their normal lives, the Knights and other seed bearers send contact information flying (how did he not think to get Aichi’s number back then? But then, it hadn’t been an such a valid concern, when he had been looking forward to spending his life watching over Aichi’s sleep), but he’s unsure about finding japanese phone numbers and the proper etiquette when calling someone’s house, and sends a letter instead, highest priority and sign-on-delivery, and mentally thanks the french postal system for being comparatively fast and reliable. Getting letters from Neve is a different story.

But Neve he actually has decent contact information for, and by the time Aichi calls him back, they’ve had time to talk, and he’s had time to settle his nerves, at least a little.

Aichi laughs on the phone and apologises for all the trouble he’s caused him, and Gaillard has to stop himself from packing his bags right there and taking the first plane to Japan. 

_You have a family to take care of_ , he reminds himself. _Aichi can take care of himself._

And maybe that’s what hurts most. _He doesn’t need you_.

 

He calls Gaillard again, and again, and after a few times Gaillard starts calling him too, chatting to him about the european Vanguard scene, or just to keep himself occupied when he finds himself stranded for a few hours at the train station, waiting for the strike to finally let a train through (just to hear his voice). He feels guilty about it, sometimes, but then he remembers the seed inside him, the weight he shared so Aichi could get a chance to _live_ ,  and it eases his mind a little. His Knight’s rings may have lost their power, may be little more than symbols now, but he is still serving Aichi by carrying his seed. If not his will, then at least his life. It’s enough.

He still kisses them before every fight. Fighting has extra purpose, now, when every opponent could be a new candidate to spread Aichi’s legacy.

 

A few months in, he gets a letter from Japan, and almost chokes on his coffee when he sees Toshiki Kai’s name on the back of the envelope.

It’s an apology. The concept itself has him stare at the letter in disbelief, but even when he rereads it (there’s only so much he can trust his kanji skills without a dictionary on hand), the apology sounds sincere. It’s thought through, at least, which Gaillard thinks is probably a very big milestone, from the little he knows Kai. He sees Aichi’s mark in it, but also sincere goodwill.

The letter ends with a note of gratitude for going along with his plan to save Aichi, and Gaillard finds himself both appreciating him and hating him all the more.

 

They end up talking, though. Despite the jealousy he tries to keep under control, he and Kai _understand_ each other almost to an uncomfortable point, and over time the letters get more casual. 

When Kai starts faltering in his path again, unsure where to go, Gaillard remembers what happened last time he did and invites him over. _Maybe he’ll actually learn proper French._

 

When Kai arrives at the airport, his eyes are drawn to Gaillard’s hands before he even gets close enough to greet him. Gaillard glares at him, daring him to mention them. He feels the old pain and jealousy flare up again, for this man who walked in with his self-righteous feelings and almost destroyed everything he was trying to protect, this man who managed to save what Gaillard couldn’t. This man who would have taken his place as Aichi’s Knight, had he lost that fight, gaining in defeat what he had tried to protect with every victory. But Kai doesn’t say anything, and greets him in awkward French instead, and the moment passes.

Kai knows that loyalty enough not to deride it.

 

He still kisses his rings before every fight, as the both of them blaze through opponents. But somehow Kai’s presence has dulled the pain somewhat, and left a quiet kind of assurance in its stead. They are doing their part, both of them, to sow the seeds of Aichi’s sacrifice and love, to bring acceptance to the clan that saw their darkest moments. He understands, when he sees how Kai has grown, the meaning of that acceptance.

(Everyone makes mistakes. Kai tells him, eventually, about Psyqualia, after a long conversation about Ren. Slowly, the pieces of why this solution fit Aichi so well fall together in his mind)

He teaches Kai french cooking, learns about the intricacies of japanese gastronomy, and smirks when Kai dodges children at the orphanage to go help out (hide) in the kitchen instead.

 

Aichi is formally invited to the Europe Circuit the next year, and he isn’t sure whether he’s ready.

Neve comes out of his forest to participate. Rati takes the plane across the globe “just to watch.” He thanks and curses them for their silent support.

Aichi steps into the lobby of the airport, bright and shy and somehow still kingly in his step, the determination with which he advances when he spots Gaillard in the crowd.

"It’s been a while, Gaillard-kun."

His French is perfect and he takes Gaillard’s hands in his, brings them up to chest level, squeezes them. Smiles.

"Thank you for everything, Gaillard-kun. Let’s keep doing our best, shall we? At the circuit too."

In the guilty part of his heart, Gaillard finds himself turning his back on 250 years of political tradition.


End file.
